According to the World Health Organization, over 5% of the world's population—360 million people—have disabling hearing loss (328 million adults and 32 million children). Approximately one-third of people over 65 years of age are affected by disabling hearing loss. Disabling hearing loss refers to hearing loss greater than 40 dB in the better hearing ear in adults and a hearing loss greater than 30 dB in the better hearing ear in children.
Hearing aids are electrical devices that assist in optimizing perception of speech or other sounds. Most hearing aids are designed for hearing impaired individuals, of which there are approximately 37 million in the United States. Hearing aid unit sales in 2013 came very close to topping the 3-million unit mark for the first time in industry history. Industry experts are projecting 4 million unit sales by 2020.
Even though hearing aids can have a substantial impact on mitigating hearing loss, use of hearing aids with mobile or cordless telephones can be problematic. The configuration of Behind the Ear (BTE) or Receiver in the Canal (RIC) hearing aids can impede transfer of the sound from the voice emitting speaker (or receiver) of telephones thereto. For example, the position of the microphones of BTE hearing aids is often removed from the traditional placement of the voice emitting speakers of such telephones adjacent the ear. To illustrate, a user of a BTE hearing aid can oftentimes hear the phone ring, but cannot clearly hear callers due to the BTE hearing aid ear mold obstruction preventing the transfer of sounds from the voice emitting speaker.
Therefore, there is a need for a device facilitating the transfer of sounds from the voice emitting speaker of a telephone to a hearing aid.
The assistive hearing device described herein is designed to improve communication on telephones, including cordless or mobile phones, for people who wear BTE or RIC hearing aids. The assistive hearing device eliminates the need to place a phone receiver behind the ear to obtain the clearest sound. The assistive hearing device redirects telephonic sound via an acoustical accumulator and director to the microphone of the hearing aid located behind the ear or in the ear canal of the user. The acoustical accumulator and director extends beyond the top of the phone whereby it redirects the telephonic sound from the phone closer to where the BTE or RIC microphone is located.